CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Forest City Enterprises, Inc., turned in messy third-quarter results Monday, as the company's efforts to streamline its real estate portfolio and bring in joint-venture partners on projects led to some large write-downs.

The real estate company, based in Cleveland, said funds from operations were negative, thanks to accounting for factors including Forest City's decision to sell off a Las Vegas development property sooner rather than later. The key performance yardstick for Forest City and its peers, FFO fell to a negative $19 million, or 10 cents per share, from a positive $79.6 million, or 37 cents per share, a year before.

Stripping out unusual accounting items and events, the company reported operating FFO of $41.3 million, down from $62.3 million during the third quarter of 2012.

"As we have stated previously, 2013 is a transformational year for Forest City," David LaRue, the company's president and chief executive, said in a written statement. "As we continue to execute on our strategic plan, the decisions we make will create near-term volatility as we reshape the business.

"Nonetheless," he added, "we are encouraged by the performance of our mature portfolio, the future value-creation opportunities in our development pipeline and the strength of the markets on which we are focused."

During its third quarter -- which ended Oct. 31st -- Forest City's numbers took a $145 million hit due to accounting for future property sales, abandoned development sites, demolition and the company's efforts to reduce debt. The largest charge related to the Las Vegas property that Forest City plans to sell.

The company swung to a profit of $153.3 million, from an $18.8 million loss, thanks in part to gains on Forest City's sale of a stake in a group of regional malls to Australian institutional investment manager QIC.

Revenues slipped 2.4 percent, to $266.2 million.

A $9.3 billion real estate company, Forest City owns, develops, manages, buys and sells property -- with a focus on apartments, regional retail centers and office buildings in major cities. During the third quarter, apartments posted the strongest growth. Shopping centers were basically flat. Net operating income fell at the company's office portfolio.

In recent years, company executives have focused on trimming debt and selling off less-desirable properties, while continuing to build Forest City's presence in key cities such as New York, Dallas and Washington, D.C. For example, the company unloaded its last hotel during the third quarter.

In October, Forest City announced a deal to bring on China's Greenland Group as a joint-venture partner at the huge Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, N.Y. If that deal closes this year, Forest City could report another complicated quarter, with a $250 million to $350 million accounting charge related to the new ownership structure and the company's reduced ownership stake.

Forest City announced its financial results before markets opened Monday. The company's Class A shares, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, closed trading Monday afternoon at $19.04, down 2.9 percent.

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